Identity crisis solved – hopefully

There’s a modest billboard on the corner of 7th St. and Park Avenue, about a ground-rule double away from Blair Field, which is the perfect example of Long Beach State’s identity problems. Virtually every possible variation of the school’s name is crammed into the two sides that can be read from the street. The school can be called CSULB, LBSU, Long Beach State, CSLB, 49ers, Beach, The Beach, Dirtbags.

It’s the Sybil of major universities, with multiple personalities depending on what you want to call the school.

Or at least it was. After discussing the issue about the school’s athletic identity for more than a year – a subject in these pages twice – the athletic department last week announced a consistent marketing plan when it comes to names.

Heretofore, it will be known as Long Beach State, the preferred informal option when referring to the athletic programs will be “Beach,” except when it comes to baseball, when the team will keep the nationally-known nickname it adopted in 1989, Dirtbags.

And that is all.

It’s a big win in the sense that it streamlines the school’s message. For years, the school’s preferred moniker was simply The Beach since its unique – no other NCAA school has the word “Beach” in its name.

“We needed a consistent brand, and all of our focus groups said “Beach” was our most important brand,” Cegles said. “It’s the easiest way to identify the school in spirit and location. Former President Robert Maxson used to end every press conference or speech with ‘Go, Beach’ and it stuck.”

For years, Long Beach athletics has always tried to steer people to address the school as Long Beach State, wanting the same kind of simple recognition as San Diego State, Fresno State and San Jose State – all California State University schools that dropped the CSU from references years ago.

Cegles has no problem with the school’s nickname, 49ers, the name adopted officially since the school opened in 1949. But it’s not an identifier. “If I tell people I work for the 49ers, they assume I’m talking about the NFL team,” he said.

The 49er nickname is not being dropped, but it is being de-emphasized internally. The mascot “Prospector Pete” is not being buried, as some media reports indicated, but he’ll be in the background.

Jerseys now will either read Long Beach State or Beach (or Dirtbags) – hardly a huge change since the basketball team went to “Beach” on their jerseys several years ago. The court at the Pyramid is being refurbished and the new one will include the name “Beach” and no other identifier.

The preferred hashtag for twitter has been #GoBeach for some time, and a sample run for it on the social media site is heavily oriented to Long Beach State athletics.

There’s also been a subtle change in the interlocking “LB” on hats, one not many will notice. The old logo had a small hole between the two loops of the B. That hole will be filled.

There are bound to be old-timers miffed at the change. They graduated as 49ers and have called their teams the 49ers for eons and change is accepted begrudgingly.

“I had a conservation with a recent grad one time who told me that he wants the name to remain CSULB because having CSU on the diploma gives it more prestige,” said Bob Livingston, a Long Beach State grad and former golf coach who now is director of golf operations for the city.

“I had another guy ask me once, ‘Does it really matter which Cal State you go to? Aren’t they all the same?’”

On a popular Long Beach State chat room, someone with the tag IAMALUM wrote, “Come on. We have to have some semblance of tradition around here. We have always been called 49ers, and that’s the way it should stay.”

The athletic name change can be considered round one of a two-round fight. One of the school’s biggest issues has been the inconsistency of merchandising.

Go into the campus bookstore or the outlet on 2nd Street and you’ll find all of the iterations of the school’s name on various T-shirts, hoodies and jerseys. Indeed, the hardest merchandise to find is anything that just says “Beach.”

“We’ve been working with Andy Hoang (the associate vice president of University Relations and Communications) on getting this message out internally, and he agrees that we need a consistent name like Long Beach State.

“We’ve talked with Don Penrod (in charge of Associated Shops) about this and it will be part of new licensing agreements that are coming up. President (Jane Close) Conoley is on board with the name change.

“I know there will be alumni and faculty members who believe it’s important to be known as California State University, because it’s a great state and a great system. But that doesn’t resonate (athletically).”

Cegles said it’s a work in progress. Indeed, shedding the official CSULB and 49er names is virtually impossible logistically, but the marketing is what is key.

And as he noted at the end of the conversation, “In the end, it’s all about winning games.” By any name.